Takt in Modern Education

Takt is a mediator between theory and practice and a technique to support the judgment and decision making of a practitioner. It also enables judgment or decision making for taking the most appropriate action for the Situation with the right timing, in a way consistent with theory, when theory has been augmented to something like a repository of wisdoms that can be utilized in the field of practice. By using Takt, a teacher can let the talent hidden in each student blossom most effectively. Takt is what helps in integrating theory on the one hand and the situation in the field on the other hand and in bearing the fruit of wisdom that is useful for current life.

l found that Takt was derived from phronesis (practical wisdom) of the ancient Greeks. In music, Takt is closely related to rhythm and in art, it enables the creation of beautiful shapes in accordance with the golden ratio by segmenting time and space. Also, Takt refers to the tactile sense, which is one of the most basic senses of humans, and is a source of wisdom necessary for life. Moreover, l came to know that Takt explores a wide array of problems and is relevant to a variety of activities relating to humans living in their environment.

As l followed the “working” of Takt in different areas, it became clear to me that from the phenomenal aspect, Takt works in a manner similar to Intuition and instinct, in that it helps in identifying the relationship of various invisible elements that support matters from behind. A series of studies on alternative knowledge, including that of Michael Polanyi on tacit knowledge, had already been published by then. In those days, there were mounting concerns about another knowledge or alternative knowledge that could not be captured by the frames of human abilities set in the modern West, such as reason and cognition.

The concerns about alternative knowledge that surged in the 1970s were revived in the 2000s, when these concerns once again drew the attention of many scientists against the backdrop of the development of neuroscience and other studies on the brain, heightened recognition of the importance of affective science as opposed to cognitive science, and the development of interests in new areas of study relating to humans in an aging society, such as memory, aging, and skillfulness.

Autoreninfo

Shoko Suzuki, professor of pedagogy and philosophy of education, at the Graduate School of Education, Department of Educational Science at University of Kyoto. Member of the Science Council of Japan. Research interests: training and learning as art (techne) in the pre-modern society, the international comparative studies on risk-performance and happiness.